Smokehouse exhaust incinerator



y 1970 s. R. PORWANCHER 3,511,224

SMQKEHOUSE EXHAUST INCINERATOR Filed Aug. 26. 1968 lNVE/VTOR.

5A MUEL PO/PWA/VCHEI? 3,511,224 SMOKEHOUSE EXHAUST INCINERATOR Samuel R.Porwancher, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Michigan Oven Company, Romulus,Mich., a corporation of Michigan Filed Aug. 26, 1968, Ser. No. 755,343Int. Cl. F23g 7/06 US. Cl. 12659.5 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREIn cooking and smoking meat and other food products, the product to besmoked is suspended within a smokehouse. During a part of the cycle oftreatment carried out in the smokehouse, the interior of the smokehouseis flooded with a heavy dense smoke. This smoke is produced byincomplete combustion of wood chips, carried out in an oxygen-starvedatmosphere to produce the desired dense form of smoke.

After the smoking operation is completed, it is necessary to remove thesmoke from the smokehouse in order to permit completion of the cookingand other processing and to allow for changing of the smokehousecontents. As might be expected, the exhaust from the smokehouse isextremely dirty and presents substantial problems with respect to airpollution control ordinances and similar regulations. Incinerators havebeen provided, for use in the smoke exhaust systems of smokehouses, toreduce the undesirable components in the smoke exhaust by burning thesmoke. But incinerators employed for this purpose tend to be ratherbulky and expensive, particularly because they must handle large volumesof dense smoke within short periods of time in order to permit thesmokehouse to be used efliciently. Furthermore, incinerator systems havepresented substantial problems due to the fact that the heavy, densesmoke used in the smokehouse tends to foul any exhaust equipment andincinerator apparatus through which it flows.

It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide a newand improved compact smokehouse incinerator that is highly efiicient inoperation and that will permit the exhaust from a commercial smokehouseto meet anti-pollution requirements in metropolitan areas.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedsmokehouse exhaust incinerator that is not susceptible to becomingfouled with the materials constitut ing the smoke.

Another object of the invention is to provide a compact and eflicientsmokehouse incinerator that is relatively low in initial cost and thatrequires a minimum of maintenance.

A further object of the invention is to provide a new and improvedsmokehouse incinerator system in which the smoke exhaust is separate andindependent from the main exhaust for the smokehouse.

Accordingly, the invention is directed to a smoke exhaust incineratorsystem incorporated in a smokehouse United States Patent 3,511,224Patented May 12, 1970 for cooking and smoking meat or other foodproducts, the smokehouse comprising a housing in which the product to besmoked is suspended and means for introducing a dense smoke into thathousing. The incinerator system includes an insulated verticalcylindrical combustion chamber located externally of the smokehouse andhaving a. convergent upper section terminating in an outlet opening atthe top of the chamber. Smoke exhaust means are provided, connecting theinterior of the smokehouse to the combustion chamber of the incinerator,for exhausting smoke from the smokehouse into the base of the combustionchamber. A deflecting means, preferably a frustoconical bafile, islocated within the combustion chamber and directs the flow of smoke fromthe base of that chamber upwardly past an intermediate combustionregion. A burner for heating and burning the smoke is located in thecombustion region of the chamber. An exhaust stack extends upwardly fromthe outlet opening of the combustion chamber, this exhaust stack beingprovided with means for introducing cooling air into the bottom of thestack.

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent fromthe following description and claims and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, shows a preferredembodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and whatis now considered to be the best mode contemplated for applying theseprinciples. Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same orequivalent principles may be made as desired by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the present invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial sectional elevation view of a smokehouse incineratorsystem constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional elevation view of the incinerator combustion andexhaust stack; and

FIG. 3 is a detail sectional view taken approximately along line 33 inFIG. 2.

The smoke exhaust incinerator system illustrated in the drawings isemployed in conjunction with a smokehouse 10 having a roof 11 and sidewalls 12 and 13. Smokehouse 10 includes two smoke inlet ducts 14 eachaffording a series of nozzles for introducing a dense, heavy smoke intothe interior of the smokehouse, Ducts 14 are connected to a suitablesmoke generator (not shown), which may be of conventional construction.In operation, the meat or other food product to be smoked in thesmokehouse is suspended therein on appropriate racks such as the rack15.

In smokehouse 10, an exhaust duct 16 is located in the center topportion of the house. Duct 16 is provided with a plurality of openings17 into which smoke, steam, or other components of the smokehouseatmosphere can flow when it is necessary to exhaust the smokehouse asdescribed more fully hereinafter.

Duct 16 is connected to an external exhaust duct 18 that leads into awater damper 19. Water damper 19 has an inlet 21, through which watermay be introduced into the damper, and a drain or outlet 22. There is acentral barrier 23 in the water damper. In operation, the water dampercan be filled with water to the level indicated by the dash line 24 toclose off the external exhaust duct 18 from a main exhaust outlet 25.Outlet 25 leads to a main exhaust stack 26, through the roof 27 of thebuilding in which the smokehouse 10 is located. The main exhaust stack26 includes an appropriate main exhaust blower 28.

The external exhaust duct 18 is also provided with a second outletconstituting a smoke exhaust duct 31 that is independent of the mainexhaust leading through the water damper 19. Duct 31 is connected to anexhaust blower 32 having an outlet duct 33 that extends into the base ofa vertical cylindrical combustion chamber 34. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,combustion chamber 34 may be mounted upon an appropriate frame orsupport 35 mounted on the building roof.

Combustion chamber 34 is a principal element of a smoke exhaustincinerator that is shown in greater detail in FIGS. 2 and 3. In thepreferred construction shown in those figures, blower 32 is an inductionblower that forces air under pressure into duct 33 to induce a flow ofsmoke and air outwardly of the smokehouse from duct 31. This inductionexhaust arrangement avoids passing the smoke through blower 32 and thusprevents the substantial solid content of the smoke from fouling theblower.

Duct 33 terminates within the base portion of chamber 34 at one side ofthe chamber, as indicated by the outlet opening 37. A deflecting meanscomprising a frusto-conical metal baflle 38 is located within the baseof chamber 34 and directs the flow of smoke from the base of thecombustion chamber circumferentially upwardly, as indi cated by arrowsA, into an intermediate combustion region 39 in the chamber.

The incinerator apparatus comprising combustion chamber 34 furtherincludes a burner 41 for heating and burning the smoke as the smoketraverses the combustion region 39 within the incinerator. Preferably,burner 41 is a gas burner, provided with a gas inlet conduit 42 and anair inlet duct 43, duct 43 being connected to a blower 44. Burner 41projects a flame into the intermediate combustion region 39- of theincinerator as generally indicated by the dash line 45 in FIG. 2.

The upper portion of combustion chamber 34 is sloped inwardly toward anoutlet opening 46. A series of brackets 47 are mounted around theperiphery of the outlet opening 46; these brackets support an exhauststack 48 that extends upwardly of the combustion chamber outlet and isopen to the atmosphere. The lower portion of stack 48 is a flared sleeve49 that is spaced from the outside wall of combustion chamber 34 topermit the introduction of cooling air into the bottom of the exhauststack as indicated by the arrows B.

In operation of the incinerator and exhaust system shown in thedrawings, water damper 19 (FIG. 1) is drained and is empty when steam orother innocous atmospheric components are exhausted from the interior ofsmokehouse 10. In this regard, it should be noted that for much of theoperation of the smokehouse, the meat or other food products in thesmokehouse are cooked in the absence of smoke, either by steam or dryheat, or both. When it is desired to evacuate the smokehouse, and thereis no substantial quantity of smoke present in the house, as when asteam cooking cycle has been completed or when one charge of foodproduct is to be removed and another substituted, the main exhaust stack26 is employed to the exclusion of the smoke exhaust 31 and incineratorapparatus 34. This makes it possible to exhaust the smoke house at ahigh rate and to reduce the cycle time for the smokehouse to a minimum.

Before the beginning of an operating cycle in which smoke is to beexhausted from smokehouse 10, and preferably even before the smokehouseis filled with smoke, water damper 19 is filled with water. This can beaccomplished manually or may be effected by automatic controlscontrolling the operation of the smokehouse. Once the water damper isfilled, air or other atmospheric constituents from the smokehouse can nolonger escape from the house through main exhaust stack 26.

When it becomes necessary to clear the smokehouse of smoke, blower 44 isstarted in operation and burner 41 is ignited to heat incineratorchamber 34 in the intermediate region 39. Typically, the incinerator maybe heated to a temperature of approximately 1500 F.

With the gas burner 41 in operation, and the incinerator heated, smokeexhaust blower 32 is started in operation. This blower induces a flow ofsmoke and other gases from smokehouse 10 through exhaust duct 17,external duct 18, smoke exhaust duct 31, and duct 33 into the base ofincinerator chamber 34. The smoke swirls around in the lower part of thecombustion chamber, as indicated by arrows A in FIG. 3, and isdischarged through the top opening of baflie 38 into the intermediatecombustion zone 39 in combustion chamber 34.

The smoke requires a fixed time to pass through the heat portion of theincinerator chamber. Typically, the combustion time for the smoke inchamber 34 may range from 0.3 to 0.5 minute. In a given installation,for use with an eight-cage gas-fired smokehouse, the velocity of thesmoke at the 1500" temperature may be of the order of 500 to 600 feetper minute and the heater 41 may provide a heat input to the incineratorbetween 500,000 and 800,000 B.t.u. per hour. The foregoing exemplarydata are provided on the basis of an assumed requirement of 300 s.c.f.m.in exhausting the smokehouse.

The incinerator of the invention provides eifective and rapid burning ofthe smoke from the smokehouse and makes it possible to exhaust thesmokehouse, while meeting air pollution control requirements, in amatter of a few minutes. There is little tendency for the smoke to foulthe incinerator apparatus; the smoke never passes through blower 32 andis maintained continuously in movement as it passes through incineratorchamber 34. Virtually all of the smoke is thoroughly and completelyburned by the time it escapes from the incinerator through exhaust stack48.

In the preferred construction illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3, combustionchamber 34 is provided with a refractory liner 61 and the cylindricalportion of the refractory liner is encompassed by a layer of hightemperature insulation 62. The entire combustion chamber is encased in ametal housing '63 which may, in a typical installation, be formed fromrelatively heavy gauge aluminized steel. The provision of the flaredsleeve 49 at the bottom of stack 48 and the mounting of that sleeve inspaced relation to the outer surface of the combustion chamber on thebrackets 47, as shown in FIG. 2, allows a substantial influx of coolingair to the stack when the incinerator is in operation. This materiallyreduces the construction cost for the incinerator, because it avoids thenecessity of providing a refractory liner, or the use of hightemperature alloy steel for stack 48.

What is claimed is:

1. In a smokehouse for cooking and smoking meat or other food productscomprising an enclosed housing in which the product to be smoked issuspended and means for introducing a dense smoke into that housing, asmoke exhaust incinerator system comprising:

an insulated vertical cylindrical combustion chamber located externallyof the smokehouse, said combustion chamber having a convergent uppersection terminating in an outlet opening at the top of the chamber;

smoke exhaust means, connecting the interior of the smokehouse to saidcombustion chamber, for exhausting smoke from said smokehouse into thebase of said combustion chamber;

deflecting means, within said combustion chamber, for directing a flowof smoke from the base of said combustion chamber upwardly past anintermediate combustion region in said combustion chamber;

a burner for heating and burning the smoke as the smoke traverses saidintermediate combustion regron;

an exhaust stack extending upwardly from said outlet opening of saidcombustion chamber; and

means for introducing cooling air into the bottom of said exhaust stack.

2. A smokehouse exhaust incinerator system according to claim 1 in whichsaid deflecting means comprises a bafile of frusto-conical configurationmounted in the base of said combustion chamber.

3. A Smokehouse exhaust incinerator system according to claim 2 in whichsaid smoke exhaust means comprises a connecting duct entering saidcombustion chamber along one edge of the interior of said frusto-conicalbafiie to produce a swirling movement of the smoke upwardly through thebase of said combustion chamber and into said combustion region.

4. A smokehouse exhaust incinerator system according to claim 1 andfurther comprising a second exhaust means, connected to said Smokehouse,for exhausting said Smokehouse independently of said smoke exhaustmeans, said smoke exhaust means and said second exhaust means includinga common exhaust duct located within the Smokehouse, and meanscomprising a water damper for preventing flow of smoke through saidsecond exhaust means.

References Cited OTHER REFERENCES German printed application, No.1,146,661, Apr. 4, 1963, Schmick et a1.

CHARLES J. MYHRE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

